Typically, the cleaning of the teeth of a patient has been accomplished using a dental right angle attachment in cooperation with a standard dental hand piece. The right angle attachment included a prophy cup for applying prophy paste to the teeth. The dental hand piece was coupled to the dental right angle attachment to provide the prophy cup with rotary motion.
To apply the prophy paste to the teeth, a dental professional has been required to dip or insert the prophy cup into a container holding a supply of prophy paste therein. The prophy cup was then removed from the container along with a small amount of the prophy paste. By operating the dental handpiece, the prophy cup containing the small amount of prophy paste was rotated to enhance the cleaning process. Subsequently, the right angle was placed in the mouth of the patient and the prophy cup was urged against the teeth to apply the prophy paste thereto. This process was then repeated until the teeth were cleaned satisfactorily.
Such a tooth cleaning process has been unduly time consuming and inefficient as the application of the prophy paste was repeatedly interrupted by the need to reinsert the prophy cup into the container to obtain more prophy paste. Furthermore, the tooth cleaning apparatus and process has been awkward as two hands were required to clean the teeth of a patient. In this regard, one hand was needed to hold the prophy paste container, and another hand was required to hold the right angle attachment. Thus, either both hands of the dental professional were occupied to perform the cleaning operation, or the help of an assistant was required.
To enable the dental professional to apply prophy paste to the teeth of the patient in a non-awkward manner, various dental appliances have been introduced which combine a rotary dental prophylactic attachment with a dental paste dispenser. For example, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,300,828; 2,400,912; 2,728,528; 3,775,849; 3,977,084; and 5,062,716.
As disclosed in the aforementioned patents, reservoirs of dental prophy paste have been combined with dental prophylactic devices to enable the dental paste to be dispensed as the dental device is operated. In this manner, the dental professional is able to clean the teeth of the patient single handedly without interruption.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,300,828 discloses a dental cleansing device having a hollow cylinder member coupled to a customary drill head. The cylinder member is sized to receive a suitable quantity of cleansing paste to clean the teeth of a patient. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,528 discloses a dental handpiece adapted to receive a container thereon for dispensing a cleansing paste.
While the disclosed devices could adequately dispense the cleansing paste, the cleansing paste storage containers were positioned on the outside of the dental device. The overall size of the device was increased, and maneuvering the device within the mouth of the patient was hampered as a result. Furthermore, the view of the dental professional was somewhat obstructed by the increased size.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved dental device which facilitates the cleaning of teeth with one hand, and which substantially reduces any obstruction to the view of the dental professional operating the tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,084 discloses an electrically operated dental hygienic device. The device includes an internal reservoir of prophy paste and an electrically controlled dispensing mechanism to urge the prophy paste out into engagement with the teeth.
Although the disclosed device is self contained and somewhat reduced in size, the device is not adapted for use with standard dental tools, such as a dental handpiece. The use of the device unnecessarily duplicates some of the functions already provided by the standard dental tools used by the dental professional. Thus, the use of the disclosed device increases the cost to the dental professional to perform the tooth cleaning process.
Therefore, it would also be highly desirable to have a new and improved dental device which is adapted for use with standard dental tools.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,400,912; 3,775,849; and 5,062,796 disclose dental attachments adapted for use with standard dental equipment to clean teeth. The disclosed attachments include complex arrangements for storing a supply of paste within a sturdy housing. The devices utilize available compressed air or rotary motion provided by existing dental equipment to urge the stored paste out of the housing to apply to the teeth.
While the disclosed dental attachments have been capable of facilitating the cleaning of teeth, the devices have been relatively expensive to manufacture and purchase. Furthermore, the disclosed devices have required substantial cleaning operations after every use to ensure that sanitary conditions were maintained.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved dental handpiece attachment for cleaning teeth that maintains sanitary conditions without requiring cleaning after each use, and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.